Thursday, October 16, 2008

I entered another Trashion Challenge. This one was thoughtfully named the "Monster Mash" with the organizers hoping that our creative efforts would appeal to Halloween enthusiasts.

The party began when I was paired with twistedwear - another Trashionista on etsy. Rules for the challenge were loose - send your partner some stuff from your stash. Appropriate items to send would include: stuff you want to get rid of, things in need of a new home and/or items that others might actually consider Trash. I will admit to feeling a bit of trepidation as I opened the mystery box from Kentucky. You just never know.

Here's what I found inside:

A massive pile of fabric exploding with color, texture and possibilities.

My strategy was to whittle the heap down by choosing a simple color palette. This is what I came up with:

The vintage bit of purple plaid was my favorite scrap included and I went from there. twistedwear also sent the luxurious purple velvet that just felt like Halloween. Like a Halloween costume, I guess. I added the green tulle, yarn and beaded trim from my own stash. Picking the colors was the easy part - engineering a way to make a monster out of them, however, really threw me for a loop.

You'll notice a few other things in the photo meant to inspire.

The book at the top is Lynda Barry's "One! Hundred! Demons!". It was a unexpected and well loved gift from another Linda. (Thanks again, btw). I became a fan of Lynda Barry's when I read MAD magazine back in my middle school years. Or was it Dynomite? I really can't remember when I first discovered her - but I have forever since had a kinship with her pimple-faced, awkward Marlys character. The One! Hundred! Demons! book is all about real life demons in Barry's life. She painted them with a Chinese brush & explains that the demons (such as "My Worst Boyfriend") just came out of her brush. It is a brilliant read & I highly recommend it!

The other little thing you may have noticed is the cassette tape pouch on the table. An inspiration, for sure.

This was the most stellar birthday gift that I've received in a long, long time. It holds some very important crafty bits and pieces...and sits on my work table smiling at me while I create. I love it. (You can buy one from BraveMoonman, if you'd like. She sews them by hand and makes them in custom colors).

The hardest part about this challenge was my resistance to making anything "scary" - or even "Monster-y" for that matter. That's just not how I roll. Cool thing is, the rules and guidelines for these sorts of challenges are pretty loose. At least that is how I see them. So often in my day to day life, the rules are fairly rigid - I think that is why I really embrace the looseness of interpretation of this creative work and just do whatever the Hell I want. Here is what I ended up with:

I named her Karma the Kosmic Kitten after another well-loved and dearly missed furry friend.

She is a feline with a mission to save the Big Blue Marble by educating Earthlings about Environmental Protection. She wears Solar Powered, Magic Green Whiskers and was handcrafted from 100% upcycled materials. Click here to read more of her story and to see more photos.